1) “DMV” debut, 8:30 p.m. today, CBS. The CBS season finally begins, with lots of season-openers and a few new shows — starting with this comedy. In the “Superstore” style, it finds fun with the Department of Motor Vehicles patrons — an entitled jerk, a scary driver, a clueless oldster — and the likable staff, shown here with sweet Colette (Harriet Dyer) eyeing the newcomer (Alex Tarrant). Read more…
Hollywood has always liked frontiers, old and new.
Those are great places for a hero — Davy Crockett or Roy Rogers or Captain Kirk — to be on his own, without back-up or 9-1-1.
And now we have “The Last Frontier.” It’s a 10-parter, Fridays on Apple TV+, starting with two episodes on Oct. 10.
This time, the frontier involves distant parts of Alaska. It has some of the same things Davy and Roy faced, plus one more:
“Everyone had to do a fight sequence,” Jason Clarke (shown here), who stars, said in a Zoom press session. And “everyone had to take physical training with horses … And then to shoot in minus-25.” Read more…
1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. On Oct. 11, 1975, “SNL” debuted with a busy night — three comedians, two music acts, a film, Muppets … and lots of future stars. Now, exactly 50 years later, this season’s second episode (and, by one count, the 995th overall) is hosted by Amy Poehler (shown here earlier this week), with Role Model as music guest. Read more…
1) “Blue Bloods” finale rerun, 10 p.m., CBS. The final season ended with potential chaos for the police commissioner (Tom Selleck, shown here_ and his kin: New York’s gangs linking to demand amnesty for prisoners. That reruns today, a week before the debut of a well-crafted spin-off, “Boston Blue.” This finale also has key moments in the marriages of Erin and of her brother Jamie; also, Joe finally meets his cousin. Read more…
TV viewers can be forgiven for having a few basic questions:
When will the TV season start? Will it ever start? Wait, did it start already?
The answers finally become clear when CBS has its “premiere week,” Oct. 12-19, three weeks later than usual. It includes:
— One situation comedy, a fun one. “DMV” has its sprightly start at 8:30 p.m. Monday (Oct. 13).
— Two cop shows, both spin-offs that are high-octane, slickly produced and a bit overstuffed. “Sheriff Country” and “Boston Blue”(shown here) start at 9 and 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 17.
— A promising reality competition, “The Road,” at 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19. Read more…
1) “Grey’s Anatomy” (shown here) season-opener, 10 p.m., ABC. The 22nd season begins for what is the third-longest-running primetime drama (behind two “Law & Order” shows) in U.S. TV history. And it begins in mid-crisis: Last season ended with an explosion in the hospital. After waiting five months, viewers now see a scramble to save patients and doctors. Read more…
In our minds, we might cast our spouses as heroes, angels, knights in shining armor.
And in TV, Dana Klein cast her husband as a complete and total jerk. “He’s such a nice guy,” she insists.
She’s creator and producer of “DMV,” at 8:30 p.m. Mondays on CBS. In the opener (Oct. 13), a rich businessman keeps badgering for special treatment from the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Ah yes, Klein figured — a perfect role for her husband, Mark Feuerstein (shown here). “We’re from New York, so we know some people who are a little, you know, entitled when they go into a room.” Read more…
1) “Secrets of the Dead” season-opener, 10 p.m., PBS. At its peak, Rome’s Colosseum (shown here) held more than 60,000 people. At its moral depth, it had gladiators fighting, prisoners being executed, African animals being slain. Here’s a fascinating look at the structure itself Read more…
1) “The Lowdown,” 9 p.m., FX, rerunning at 10:11. Last week, Lee’s daughter (shown here with him) found the essays of the late Dale Washberg. Now we hear some of them, recited by Dale (Tim Blake Nelson) and read Lee (Ethan Hawke). We’re propelled into action, emotion and great characters — especially Jeanne Tripplehorn as Dale’s widow; the final minutes are potent. Read more…
1) “Independent Lens,” 10 p.m., PBS. Phil Sharp (shown here) grew up in rural Kentucky, where only 10 percent of classmates went to college. He stuttered and was dyslexic; he was, an educator says, “off-kilter, undaunted, unapologetic.” With homespun optimism, this compelling film says, he led science breakthroughs that have saved 20 million lives on Covid alone. Read more…
